Automatic case shift



1944- P. M. RAINEY AUTOMATIC CASE SHIFT 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 20.1942 INVENTOR BY fl l ATTORNEY Oct. 17, 1944. P. M. RAINEY 2,360,621

AUTOMATIC CASE SHIFT Filed Jan. 20, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYPatented Oct. 17, 1944 AUTOMATIC CASE SHIFT Paul M. Rainey,Martinsville, N. J;, assignor to Combination Selector Company, GlenRidge, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 20, 1942,Serial No. 427,420

8 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful im provements in case shiftingmechanisms for writing machines, such as typewriters, stencil cuttingmachines, embossing machines, etc.

The object of the present invention is to provide automatic caseshifting in response to certain predetermined operations thus increasingthe output of the machine and reducing the eflort required of theoperator. In the specific embodiment disclosed, the return of thecarriage to the beginning of a new line and the operation of the spacebar or key causes the machine to shift to uppercase and, after a typebar has been actuated, back to lower case.

The invention is particularly applicable to ad-- dressing or likeoperations. For example in the following address:

Mr. John Doe #1620 James St. New York City, N. Y.

there are 39 printed characters, 11 of which are upper case characters.Also note that each uppfir case character is either the first characterof a line or follows a space.

It is therefore a further object to furnish a more efficient means forkeyboard operators who write addresses and likecopy on typewriters,stencil cutters, embossing machines. etc.

In the present exemplification of the invention,

in addition to the usual manually operable case 7 shift, anelectromagnetically controlled case shift may be switched into operationso as to function upon the return of the carriage to the beginning of aline and each operation of the space bar. The electromagnetic shift canbe'operated also in response to each actuation of a special key anddisabled upon the actuation offanother key. The invention is disclosedas an attachment which may be readily combined withexisting typewriters.

These'and other features of the invention will more clearly appear fromthe following description of an embodiment thereof and the appendedclaims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of so much of a typewriteras is necessary for an understanding of the invention;

Fig. 2 a side elevation of a detail at the back of the typewriter;

Fig. 3 a section along lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig.4 a side elevation of the shift operating magnet;

Fig. 5 a section along lines 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 a plan view of part of the typewriter keyboard; and 7 means ofscrews 3|.

Fig. 7 a diagrammatic illustration of the circuit arrangement. 7

The typewriter (see Fig. 1) consists of the usual carriage l including aplaten 2 mounted between two end, brackets 68 (one shown), which slideson ball bearings 3. By means of a case shift key 4 (Fig. 6), thecarriage may by means (not fully shown) he lifted into the positionindicated by dotted lines. In the normal position, lower case indicia intypes like 5 will strike against the platen 2 when the type is actuatedby a key like 6 through the'agency of the customary type bars and otherlinkage. When raised, the upper case indicia strike the platen 2 in theproper alignment.

The carriage may be lifted into the upper case positionby a pin 1carried on one end of a plunger 8 of a solenoid magnet 9. The magnet 9(see Fig. 4) is mounted by means of a bracket Ill on the base I I. Theplunger 8 passes through a coil l2. A screw l5, of which pin 1 is anintegral part, has a nut l6 mounted thereon. It passes through a slot I3in the upper end of the plunger 8 and by means of head l4 holds theplunger 8 within a recess of nut IS. The lower end of plunger 8 carriesa finger ll of insulating material adapted, when the magnet isenergized, to press contact spring 18 into engagement with contactspring l9. By means of a, bracket 20, the two springs, insulated fromone-another, are mounted on the magnet 9.

Through the agency of levers 2| (Fig. 1) piv oted at 22, all keys like 6operate a bail 23 pivoted at 24 and rotate it in a clockwise directionagainst the tension of a spring 25. The bail 23 extends under all thekey levers associated with type bars so that whenever any one of thesekeys is depressed, the bail will move, through the agency of insulatingpin 26, a contact spring 21 away from contact spring 28. These twocontacts are insulated from one another and are mounted on a plate 29fastened to base H by The plate 29 has an embossing 30 which contactswith a plate 29' lying fiat on the base ll whereby the position of thecontact springs with respect to bail 23 can be adjusted by means ofscrews 3|.

Another set of contacts 32, 33 (Fig. 1) is similarly mounted by means ofplates 34, 34' on base I l by screws 35 in cooperative relation withspace bar 36. Whenever the space bar 36 is depressed it presses throughthe agency of insulating pin 31 contact 32 into engagementwith contact33. A third set of contacts 38. 39 is mounted on the base I I by meansof a bracket 40 (Fig. 2). A lever pivoted at 43 may press these contactsinto engagement by an insulating member 4| carried at the end of arm 42of the lever. A second arm 44 of this lever projects into the path ofstop 45 held in position by means of spring 41 on toothed rack 46provided on the back of carriage I'. This stop 45 also controls theleft-hand margin or the position at which each new line normally starts.When the carriage is returned to begin a new line by means of handle 48(or otherwise), the stop 45 will rotate lever 44 counter-clockwise, andcause arm 42 to close contacts 38, 39.

Two push buttons 5|, 52 and a key 53 are mounted in housing 66 attachedto base H at the left of the typewriter (see Fig. 6) and operate,respectively, contacts 54-55, 56-51 and 58-59.

All the parts of the typewriter are enclosed within a casing 49 which bymeans of legs 50 is positioned by pins 61 on base so that the two setsof contacts 21-28 and 32-33 cooperate with bail 23 and space bar 36,respectively, and that the pin 1 engages the carriage l, and thatadjustable stop 45 engages lever end 44.

Current is supplied to magnet coil I 2'(Fig. 7) through the secondarywinding 6| of a transformer 68, the primary winding 62 of which isconnected with the power mains.

Let us assume that the operator wishes to address a number of envelopesand that the address aforementioned is typical.

The operator will move key 53 into the on position closing contacts 58,59.

With the carriage in its initial position (at the beginning of aline),-an energizing circuit is closed for magnet 9 from the transformersecondary 6|, over coil [2, conductor 64, contacts 38, 39, .conductor65, thenorm-ally closed contacts 56, 51 of unshift key 52, contacts 58,59, and back to winding 6|.

The magnet 9 will lift the carriage into the upper case position andcloses a locking circuit for itself over its now closed contacts l8; IS,the normally closed contacts 21, 28, resistance 63, contacts 51, 56,contacts 58, 59 and back to winding. 6|.

When the first key like 6 is depressed and operates a type bar, theupper case type will register with the platen. The first key struck willactuate bail 23 to open contacts.21, 28 and since the carriage has leftits initial position, the contacts 38, 39 will be open and the magnet 9becomes de-energized and the carriage l returns into the lower caseposition.

.The following characters will all be printed while the carriage is inthe lower case position. When,.however, the space'bar 36 is depressedafter Mr the contacts 32, 33 will be closed and close the circuit ofmagnet 9 over conductors 64 and 65, and contacts 56-51 and 5il-59 andthe magnet will lock up. I, j

The letter J will be upper casefwhereupon contacts 21, 28 will open thelocking circuit and the rest of the word will be lower case.

It will thus be seen that the entire address can be written withouttouching the manual shift key 4. The following are examples of the kindof text, other than addressing, on which a'typist may save time and.effort by the'application of this invention:

Those present were: J G. Abbot, F. M. Crosley, J. J. Dorman, etc.

J. G. Stine, Pres. C. 0. Fish, V. P. M-. G. Ward, Sec. Treas. F. G.Havard, Gen. Mgr. S. M. Osborn,Prod. Mgr.

H. G. Barnes.

If at any time, while key 53 is on, the operator wishes to disable theautomatic shift, e. g., if the sign is not desired before the streetnumber, she can do so by depressing button 52. This will open contacts56, 51 through which pass the energizing and locking circuits of coill2.

If it is desired to write upper case at a time when normally a lowercase would appear, e. g., when writing the name McLean instead of McLean, the operator depresses button 5|, closing contacts 54, 55 whichwill close the circuit of coil f 2 over the same path as contacts Whenthe key 53 is in the off position, the contacts 58-59 are open and theshifting is controlled by keys 4 and 4a,.

It should be noted that the application of this invention as hereillustrated in no way interferes with the normal operation of thetypewriter.

It will be obvious that while the invention is here disclosed as an.attachment to a conventional typewriter it is applicable to a widevariety of typewriters and the like, and may be embodied in suchmachines otherwise than as an attachment, and that the. control meanshere disclosed may be varied.

What I claim is:

1. A typewriter having a carriage, a keyboard of type operating keys, aspacing key, a case shift mechanism having upper and lower casepositions for raising and lowering said carriage into correspondingpositions, two sets of contacts, an ele'ctromagnet controlled by thecontacts, for. lifting said carriage into the upper case position, aconnection betweenv the spacing key and the first set of contacts forclosing the latter upon each operation of the spacing key, a connectionbetween the keys of the keyboard and the second setof contacts foropening the latter upon the operation of a key, an energizing circuitfor said magnet closed uponv each closing of the first set of contacts,and a locking circuit for said magnet including the second set ofcontacts. a v

2. A typewriter having a carriage, a keyboard of type operating keys, aspacing key, a case shift mechanism having upper and lower casepositions for raising and lowering said carriage into correspondingpositions, two sets of contacts, an electromagnet controlled by thecontacts, an armature for said magnet for lifting said carriage into theupper case position, locking contacts operated by the armature, aconnection between the spacing key and the first set of contacts forclosing the latter upon each operation of the spacing key, a connectionbetween the keys of the keyboard and the second set of contacts foropening the latter upon the operation of a key, an energizing circuitfor said magnet vclosed upon each closing of the first set of contacts,and a locking circuit for said magnet including said locking contactsand the second set of contacts.

3. In a'key operated typing machine having characters in two cases and acarriage adapted for movement in a letter space direction from aninitial position and return to the initial position, an attachmentcomprising meansto cause the first character typed in each initialposition and the first character following aspace to be from one caseand all other characters from the other case.

4. Ina machine of thecharacter described, a keyboard of type operatingkeys, a spacing key, a

carriage adapted for movement in a letter space direction from aninitial position and return to the initial position, a case shiftingmechanism having upper and lower case positions, and means for movingthe shifting mechanism into the upper case position in response to eachactuation of the spacing key, and also whenever the carriage is returnedto the initial position and for returning the shifting mechanism intothe lower case position when the first type operating key is actuated.

5. A typewriter having a carriage adapted for movement in a letter spacedirection from an initial position and return to the initial position, akeyboard of type operating keys, a case shift mechanism having upper andlower case positions for raising and lowering said carriage intocorresponding positions, two sets of contacts, an electromagnetcontrolled by the contacts for lifting said carriage into the upper caseposition, means for closing the first set of contacts whenever thecarriage is returned to the initial position, a connection between thekeys of the keyboard and the second set of contacts for opening thelatter upon the operation of a key, an energizing circuit for saidmagnet closed upon each closing of the first set of contacts, and alocking circuit for said magnet including the second set of contacts.

6. A typewriter having a carriage adapted for movement in a letter spacedirection from an initial position and return to the initial position, akeyboard of type operating keys, a spacing key, a case shift mechanismhaving upper and lower case positions in which the carriage is liftedand lowered into corresponding positions, a shift key for controllingthe raising and lowering of said carriage, three sets of contacts, anelectromagnet controlled by the contacts, an armature for said magnetfor lifting said carriage into the upper case position independently ofthe case shift key, locking contacts operated by the armature, aconnection between the spacing key and the first set of contacts forclosing the latter upon each operation of the spacing key, a connectionbetween the keys of the keyboard and the second set of contacts foropening the latter upon the operation of a key, means for closing thethird set of contacts upon each return of the carriageto the initialposition, an energizing circuit for said magnet closed upon each closingof the first and third sets of contacts and a locking circuit for saidmagnet including said locking contacts and the second set of contacts.

'7. The combination with a typewriter having a carriage adapted formovement in a letter space direction from an initial position and returnto the initial position, a keyboard of type operating keys, a spacingkey, a case shift mechanism having upper and lower case positions inwhich the carriage is lifted and lowered into corresponding positions, ashift key for operating said mechanism, and means for returning thecarriage to the initial position, of a base plate on which saidtypewriter is mounted, separate means on said base plate for liftingsaid carriage into the upper case position independently of the caseshift key, a connection between the spacing key and said separate means,means for moving said separate means into the upper case positionwhenever the carriage is returned to the initial position, and aconnection between the keyboard and said separate means to move it intothe lower case position when a type operating key is actuated.

8. The combination of a typewriter having a carriage adapted formovement in a letter space direction from an initial position and returnto the initial position, 'a keyboard of type operating keys, a spacingkey, a case shift mechanism having upper and lower case positions inwhich the carriage is lifted and lowered into corresponding positions, ashift key for operating said mechanism, and means for returning thecarriage to the initial position, of a base plate on which saidtypewriter is mounted, three sets of contacts and springs and anelectromagnet controlled by the contacts mounted on said base plate, anarmature for said magnet for lifting said carriage into the upper caseposition independently of the case shift key, locking contacts mountedon said magnet and operated by the armature, a connection between thespacing key and the first set of contacts for closing the latter uponeach operation of the spacing key, a connection between the keys of thekeyboard and the second set of contacts for opening the latter upon theoperation of any key, means for operating the third set of contactswhenever the carriage is returned to the initial position, an energizingcircuit closed for said magnet upon each closing of the first and thirdsets of contacts, a locking circuit for said magnet including saidcontacts and the second set of contacts, and a fourth set of contactsfor closing an energizing circuit for said magnet.

PAUL M. RAINEY.

